King's Mill Hospital

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• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

We have not awarded this service a score for Caring.

Find out about when we will not publish a key question score and what we look at when we assess Caring.

The service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Staff treated people with kindness and compassion. Patients told us they felt reassured by the staff and were confident in their care. Friends and family survey results from December 2025 to February 2026 indicated 82% of patients were satisfied with their care and treatment. The survey had had 4568 responses during these 3 months. The most frequently used words to describe care were kind, caring, reassuring and understanding.

Staff at all levels sought to accommodate patients’ needs and demonstrated a caring attitude to people with mental health needs. The electronic and paper patient records system allowed for transparency in patient needs and cultural preferences. There were facilities and support available for patients with dementia, complex needs and those who were neurodiverse.

Staff were able to access appropriate interpretation services to communicate with patients. However, staff told us that due to the diversity of the team, the staff adjusted the allocations so that a staff member who spoke the patient’s language could treat the patient. There were two private family rooms where staff could take families and carers, when delivering bad news.

Staff worked to protect patient’s dignity. We observed staff escorting patients to the toilet. Where two patients were sharing a bay originally designed for one the service used curtains or screens to screen patients and protect their dignity. Whilst this helped it did not prevent sounds and conversations being heard by the next patient.

There was a culture of collaboration and respect between internal and external colleagues. We observed staff interacting positively with ambulance staff during a handover, handling an urgent transition with patience. This positive culture allowed staff to provide compassionate care for patients.

We did not look at Treating people as individuals during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Independence, choice and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

The service listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

The department had processes and tools for assessing patients when they first presented to the department. Staff used a national triage tool to triage patients. Most patients were streamed (assessed) by the nurse at reception or in triage and sent to the appropriate services including Urgent Care Centre (UCC), Clinical Decisions Unit (CDU), and Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC). Patients who required the services of the emergency department were triaged and possibly treated by the triage team. The triage team further assessed the patients’ needs and ordered tests to assist the clinical staff to treat the patient.

The service had a clear system to identify people with mental health needs and align them to the appropriate pathway. During triage, nurses completed the mental health risk assessment and informed the mental health team on site. Psychiatric liaison members of staff then completed assessments. Mental health passports were in use in the department for patients who were known to services. This passport detailed medication, triggers and care plans. This ensured that all clinical staff were able to continue care of existing patients. Passports were also utilised for patients with autism or learning disabilities. Staff used the experience of carers and relatives to inform care plans to ensure that the distress to patients was minimal.

The children’s ED had access to the Children’s Adolescence Mental Health service team (CAMHs) for an assessment and treatment of children and young people. The children’s ED had a room in which children and young people could stay whilst they awaited further treatment or discharge.

There were mechanisms to address patient’s comfort needs. A member of staff or a volunteer conducted comfort rounding to ensure that every patient was offered food and drink throughout their stay which met their needs. Staff told us nutritional needs including cultural and religious needs were identified during the comfort rounding. Staff told us patients were offered sandwiches throughout the day. This nurse also undertook observations of patients for staff.

Staff responded to patient’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. We observed a nurse re-assess a patient’s pain after discussing the care plan and provided pain relief in line with the patient’s pain score. The Urgent and Emergency Care Survey 2024 reflected our observations as it stated that patients rated this issue as 6.3 out of 10. The response to ‘Do you think the hospital staff helped you to control your pain?’ was about the same as the national average. The service sent us audits which demonstrated that pain relief was generally given in a timely manner.

The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

There was an inclusive organisational culture which enabled staff to have a sense of belonging. Leaders told us staff wellbeing was important to them. They recognised that staff were often under pressure within a very busy department. Leaders encouraged staff to reflect on their working life but also supported staff to have a good work life balance. Several staff members told us they had worked at the hospital for several years due to the work culture. Several staff members referred to the staff as “one team.”’ Staff said irrespective of grade staff supported one another when the department was very busy.

There were mechanisms to collect staff feedback and reflect on staff concerns to deliver high quality person-centred care. Staff told us they felt listened to by leaders and were able to escalate concerns directly to them. The leadership team encourage the staff to become involved in initiatives and offer the team a safe space to fail without fear of blame.

The service supported staff onboarding and continued professional development. Several staff told us about how they had had issues in their personal life which had impacted on their working life. The senior leaders had supported them to adapt and change during this time. One member of staff had moved from a clinical role to a non-clinical role, another had delayed their training for a defined amount of time. Newly qualified nurses received around 18 months of preceptorship and were offered the option to extend this period until they felt comfortable in their role. Training days were organised multiple times a year and focused relevant areas. For example, all staff are invited to governance meetings to discuss where things had not gone well and to learn from this. These were well attended by all grades of staff. Staff told us they were provided cover to attend training. A mentorship programme was in place for staff to continuously identify and develop skills.

Leaders had taken steps to recognise and meet the wellbeing needs of staff, which included the necessary resources and facilities for safe working, such as regular breaks and rest areas. There was adequate staffing coverage during shifts to allow breaks. Staff told us the nurse in charge arranged or provided cover if needed so that nursing staff could take their breaks.

The service valued the wellbeing of staff. The trust had a large wellbeing offering encompassing a variety of groups that staff could obtain support from. Senior leaders in the ED made it a priority to regularly visit each area of the department to ensure that staff felt supported and were able to raise any issues in a timely manner.

Leaders supported staff wellbeing through recognition of cultural diversity. A team building and awareness session had been held which encouraged staff to consider different perspectives and included activities such as receiving Henna tattoos, sampling world foods and listening to the experiences of nursing staff from abroad and how their training varied from British nursing models. Staff told us they were valued by leaders. There were support mechanisms in place to support staff in the event of catastrophic events including a “hot” debrief in the immediate aftermath. Staff told us violence and aggression incidents were increasing. Training supported them to manage these situations.

The trust had a staff excellence awards which were presented to those nominated by their colleagues in the department. The consultants and doctors of the ED won the doctors and consultant award, and the ED won the award for exceptional contributions to sustainability. Alongside this there was an employee of the month award, as well as Daisy and Tulip awards for clinical and non-clinical staff. These were all nominated by team members. Staff felt that these initiatives demonstrated that their work was valued.